Short Cuts

Steven J. Moss

Dogpatch = Brewpatch

Dogpatch is emerging as the place to howl, yowl, or whimper, depending on your mood. In addition to long-time wine bar Yield, a rejuvenated Dogpatch Saloon, newcomer Third Rail, and just launched Triple Voodoo Brewery and Taproom, Magnolia Brewery Dogpatch has opened a new 11,000-square-foot brewing facility that includes a barbecue restaurant, Smokestack, helmed by executive chef/pitmaster Dennis Lee. Smokestack – the name was inspired in part by a Howlin’ Wolf song and as a nod to Dogpatch’s industrial history – is dedicated to wood-fired cookery, with a bar that features Magnolia beers on tap and cocktails that emphasize American whiskeys… And just down the block, Long Bridge Pizza Company has opened in the space formerly occupied by Oralia’s, at 2347 Third Street.

Drill, Baby, Drill

Earlier this year Pitcher Drilling began gathering subsurface soil samples along De Haro Street under contract with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). The work is part of an effort to improve the City’s sewer system. According to Pitcher Drilling’s William Stewart, the company is boring down 380 feet. “They [the SFPUC] want to know how good the rock is,” said Stewart, who was operating a drilling rig with a helper just north of the De Haro and 22nd street intersection. A SFPUC notice posted on a nearby telephone pole listed two other drilling sites, along De Haro Street, just north of 18th Street– where work has already begun–and along Texas Street, between Sierra and 22nd streets. SFPUC is drilling at 24 sites in the Southside neighborhoods, said Manfred Wong, SFPUC senior project manager.

Star Soccer

Last month the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund awarded a $10,000 capstone gift to the Dogpatch Playground. The gift enabled the Dogpatch Playground Working Group to meet its $106,000 fundraising goal. Dogpatch is the only San Francisco neighborhood without a playground, at least until now. Work on the park is scheduled to begin this month, and be completed by June…Also in February, at the San Francisco Vikings Youth Soccer League’s annual meeting, Starr King Elementary School was given the President’s Award for its accomplishments in building its soccer program. The school’s program, which started in 2009, offers teams at every grade level; about half of the kids at the school play on recreational and/or competitive teams.

Progress Park

A bit of Dogpatch history is on display at the northern extension of Progress Park. Two massive wood and metal gears made in the late-19th century, and recently installed on a strip of land on 23rd and Iowa streets, provide an intriguing reminder of the technology at work in the neighborhood more than a hundred years ago. That’s when the gears formed part of a transport system used by the Tubbs Cordage Company to move supplies along Indiana Street. The gears were unearthed a few years ago by the R Group when it excavated land on Indiana, midway between 23rd and 25th streets, to build the MillWheel condominium complex. R Group president Redmond Lyons considered the find too important to be piled on the scrap heap along with the detritus discovered in the process of preparing the area for construction. They were moved around the property several times to keep them out of the way of cement trucks, earthmovers and other modern machinery. Meanwhile, a group of neighbors was working with the San Francisco Department of Public Works to complete Progress Park, a landscaped public leisure and exercise space converted from a fenced-in weed patch under the Interstate-280 onramp, which had long served as a place for drug users to pursue their own form of recreation. Park activists secured a Community Challenge Grants from the City, using the monies to replace decades of weeds and trash with a secure footpath along 23rd. The discovery of the old gears inspired the image that became the logo for Progress Park, and Lyons happily gifted them to the park to serve as symbols honoring the area’s industrial past…Progress Park also offers a popular, fenced-in off-leash area, adding a third doggy-specific space to the two mentioned in last month’s “Esprit Park for the Dogs.”

Jury Service

The City and County of San Francisco is recruiting volunteers to serve a one-year term on the civil grand jury, with service to start July 1, 2014. The jury investigates the operations of the City’s offices, departments and agencies. Jurors must be available for the entire one-year term, commit to 20 to 30 hours a week, and be able to work during and after normal business hours. The jury meets once a week, usually in the evening. Special committees are typically formed to investigate institutions, and gather as needed. Jury members are paid $15 for each meeting they attend. For more information, eligibility requirements, and application materials: http://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org. Applications must be received by April 30…Speaking of public service, Tony Kelly hadn’t actually filed his papers to become a District 10 Supervisor candidate when last month’s paper was published, as indicated in “Kelly to Challenge Cohen in District 10 Board of Supervisors Race.” He did that later in the month.